Profile in Eastern Pennsylvania Business Journal

September 25, 2000

New Ferret Diagnostic Tests, Other Products

Avecon Diagnostics, Inc. and co-founder Robert L. Stephon, Ph.D. are the subjects of a business profile article in the August 28-September 3 issue of the Eastern Pennsylvania Business Journal. The weekly series focuses on local companies and the personalities that make them unique. In this article, Dr. Stephon describes Avecon's startup as a manufacturer of diagnostic immunoassay tests for the veterinary and clinical testing markets with the help of the Northeast Tier Ben Franklin Technology Partnership. Most recently, Avecon has developed a proprietary test for detection of antibodies related to a deadly disease known as Aleutian Disease Virus (ADV) in ferrets. "There are approximately 6 million to 8 million ferrets in the U.S. alone," according to Dr. Stephon. "ADV, originally found in the mink population both in the U.S. and abroad some 50 years ago, has the potential to devastate the pet ferret population." Avecon Diagnostics is also working on a new, ultra-sensitive technology for the detection of the virus itself. "The aim of these tests is to identify those pets (ferrets) that have been exposed to ADV, with the purpose of isolating them from healthy populations and to help stop the spread of this highly infectious disease" he says. The ADV Antibody test is currently available in an ELISA format for testing specimens in-house at Avecon Diagnostics, Inc. A Point of Care Testing (POCT) device for ADV Antibody, for use in clinics and at home is currently in the R/D stage.